Catching Fire
by RiverDaisy
Summary: 1 year after the end of the 100 year war. Thanks to a glitch in the universe, Zuko gets dropped somewhere completely unrecognizable, completely alone and completely in another world. In order to find his way back to his country and his friends, he must adapt to a new world. This new world, which is filled with strange creatures called Pokemon.
1. Ground Zero

**1 : GROUND ZERO**

* * *

On a quiet night with an oblique moon lazily gazing over the land, the Fire Palace in the capital was a sight to see. The walls were decked with heavy capes of deep red while gold silk draped over the entire ballroom. Long stripes of rose red satin lined the engraved long tables, with gold embroidery of dragon motifs exquisitely dancing over the two long edges of the tablecloth. Sitting quietly in the corners of the dark wood columns where plainly decorated lanterns, each with a unique minimalist calligraphic design on them. The nutty scent of candles wafted through the air, but it was no contender for the appetizing assailment of smells by the spread of food available. Steamed fish, chilli crabs, ducks roasted to a crispy brown perfection and fiery spicy sea slugs were just a pinch of the collection available. Even the dumplings were still steaming hot in their bamboo baskets. To say it was a party was an understatement, it was a feast fit for an emperor. And made for an emperor it was, for this was none other than a feast hosted by the Fire Lord himself.

In celebration of a year's anniversary since the world entered the new era of peace, Fire Lord Zuko was throwing a three night long feast. Among the invited members were the governing nobility in the Fire nation itself, alongside honourable guests from all over the world, most notably the Earth King, the Avatar and the president of the newly formed Republic City to name a few. Although this was only the first night of the feast, even without all of its most honourable guests present yet, it was already a significantly grand affair.

'I hate these parties.' Garbed in several flowing layers of fine robes, Zuko internally sighed to himself. While nevertheless traditional, his current attire lacked any form of armour and the spiked metal shoulder guards were now replaced by nothing but silk garments. The design was as elaborate as ever, but it was an immediate contrast to the militaristic design of the past century.

Flanked on both sides by Suki and Ty Lee, his personal bodyguards for the night, he began his political manoeuvrings for the night. While this feast was officially a celebration, anyone familiar with politics could tell it was not simply that. It served to assuage any wary citizens remaining that the path of peace was the more prosperous one but more importantly, it was another opportunity for the Fire Lord to appease the more vocal nobility. It could be said that those in positions of power in the Fire Nation could be split into three groups, those who were all too joyful that the overdrawn war was finally over, those who were still sizing up the new Fire Lord and those who defied the new regime. Those of the latter group tended to belong to the militaristic families, or strongly identified as Ozai loyalists who could not stand to serve his 'usurper'. Regardless of their reasons, it stands as truth that Zuko had plenty of enemies who would rather see his head separated from his body. This night happened to be a crucial night, for the Avatar was arriving only tomorrow. Honestly, it was not Aang's fault. The kid was busy joining the water tribes' own celebration and it would be discourteous to insist for him to leave that for the Fire Nation's. Besides, he was going to join for the second and third day, bringing along Katara and Sokka as well. With himself exposed to an entire crowded hall, of which half of them had qualms with him in one way or another, Zuko was practically almost a sitting duck for assassins. However, as the Ember Island Players liked to say, 'no matter if the stage is on fire, the play must go on'.

"Your Highness Lord Zuko, it is truly an honour to be in your great presence. Ever since the war ended, prosperous tidings have been rolling in non-stop for the citizens of your great nation. I cannot imagine the vastness of my Lord's benevolence if my Lord could even humble yourself to interact with lesser persons such as us." An elderly man, face adorned with laugh wrinkles and twinkling eyes bowed to him with a customary greeting.

"Nonsense, Lord Shingi. Do away with those formalities, this is a celebration. Besides, although I am Fire Lord, it is due to the wise counsel of individuals like yourself that allowed our successes up to this day." Reaching out a hand, Zuko gently pulled up Shingi's arm in a silent request to stop him from bowing any further.

"Your Eminence truly is a thoughtful one!"

Throughout the past year, while Zuko could not fully trust anyone on his counsel yet, Shingi was relatively trustworthy. Being a noble who delved into trade, the end of the war was a huge boon to his business as new trade routes emerged as quickly as baby hamster-rabbits in March. Besides that, he was not only an old friend of his uncle, but also shared the same wily streak which made him suited for dealing with the court. However, he tended to show a definite bias for decisions in favour for his business. Not that Zuko minded much, for the boom in trade was exactly what he needed to both usher in the new age and to ensure the economy did not collapse from all the demilitarization going on.

As the pleasantries were finally put out of the way, Shingi finally revealed the motive behind his approach. "There are a few friends of mine who will be all too glad to meet you, if you would be so kind enough to grant an audience."

Intrigued, Zuko let himself be led off to a group sitting by the large shogi screens which led to the verandas outside. The group turned out to consist of the heads of other prominent merchant houses, not only those from the Fire Nation itself, but some were even from the far-off shores of the Earth Kingdom and there was even one representative from the Northern Water Tribe. It seemed that a trade pact was currently in the works. As usual, Shingi had outdone himself and prepared everything to Zuko's liking, and he as good as won Zuko's support from the moment he began his proposal. Needless to say, it was a short but jolly discussion.

"Well, to commemorate such a joyous day, it would be a sin not to bring out the sake!" One of the members, with a portly belly and a thick moustache, bellowed out as he waved for servants to pour them the alcoholic drink.

Holding up his cup, the man gave an energetic shout, "To Fire Lord Zuko, and to a new era of prosperity!"

As the group chorused the same words, they each presented their cups and drowned their cups in heightened spirits. Even Zuko could not help but gently smile in the face of such exuberance.

Unfortunately, it would seem that his bad luck decided to gate-crash the celebration.

It was only for a split second that Zuko felt a killing intent directed towards him and instinct told him to move in the way only someone paranoid would react. Black figures swamped in from behind him, the paper-thin shogi screens torn apart and Ty Lee and Suki each contending with their own opponents. Burning sweeps of flames pushed several back and quick successive bullets of fireballs warded off the rest. However, as talented as all three of them were, the guards were too far away and even more assassins emerged to surround them. Soon, they were forced to back off to the veranda, which was lined with guards sprawled on the floor. Whether they were dead or unconscious, Zuko could not tell. As he watched one enemy diffuse his fireball, he threw a leg sweep However, the saying 'there's safety in numbers' could not have echoed the enemy's situation any better. Before he could knock over his target, he felt a hit from the side as a powerful roundhouse kick connected with his torso. Slipping, he barely clutched onto the rails as he lost his balance, and before he could blink, fire consumed his vision as the wooden support behind him gave way. Instinct was his only saviour as he brought up his arms in time to form a barely existent fire shield, but it seemed his luck had run out for Zuko felt gravity take him as he was finally overwhelmed if not by skill then at least by sheer numbers. Bright spots flickered in his vision and the world turned to darkness before he could even feel an impact.

 _Meanwhile_

It was surrounded. Human voices, sneering, shouting, demanding. There were whips of flame, burning as they cut into his thick armour. What started as scratches deepened into lesions, and cuts into gaping wounds. Subconsciously, it stored up a ball of energy, exploding it outwards once it was sufficiently charged in a desperate attempt to push everything away. The attacks remained relentless. Distantly, there was a metallic screech that bespoke of pain, drowned out by the malicious orders dished out by the humans and the determined pokemon that encircled it.

It needed to get away. The screeching was echoing in his ears and his spheres were weakening with each use. The commands of the humans were thrown out with renewed fervour, and were as ceaseless as the long-range pokemon attacks which hit it. At the back of its mind, it became aware that it was the one screeching. Now desperately flailing its thick arms around perchance it should hit something, it gave a loud roar of fury.

How dare they?

It was a legendary. The ones capable of even matching it could be counted on only one hand. It would not collapse from such low, insignificant beings.

How dare they?

Now rejuvenated by rage, the being clawed through the air with such veracity that it tore the space apart. A coagulating mess of ghostly beams shoot out, quickly accompanied by dark purple and black clouds which seemed to suck one's soul it. Eyes gleaming, the being gave another roar as it rent the very fabric of space around it, tearing the land asunder.

Then all was still.

The giant was gone, and its enemies lay unmoving on the cracked, rugged debris left behind.

* * *

 **A/N**

I know it's a short chapter but hopefully it gets longer, considering this is more of a prologue. Please leave a review, even if you're just airing some thoughts or leaving a short comment. Reviews are sustenance for that thing authors like to call their muse.


	2. Welcome to the World of Pokemon

**2\. WELCOME TO THE WORLD OF POKEMON**

* * *

The first thing Zuko was greeted with was darkness. Of course, that should be expected seeing as he was possibly dead. Even if the fire did not get to him, the fall most certainly should have.

The darkness felt strangely fluid but stiff at the same time, as if he were sunk in some ocean but swallowed by the earth simultaneously. Like how his skin shivered but his bones burned. Honestly, it was confusing to think about so Zuko sought to ignore it.

"Sorry to keep you waiting!"

There was a gravelly voice somewhere. He could hear the words, but they were not processing through his mind.

"Welcome to the world of Pokemon!"

His ears still felt muffled, as if they were stuffed with Appa's fur.

"My name is Professor Oak. But everyone calls me the Pokemon Professor."

 _What was a professor?_

Now that his hearing was focussing, his vision followed and he could make out a slight silhouette of a man.

As if unaware that Zuko had neither heard his previous statements nor even comprehended the last statement, the voice continued on in its chirpy tone, undeterred.

"Before we go any further, I'd like to tell you a few things you should know!"

By this point, his vision was not getting any clearer, and it was as if his jaw was fixed in its place.

"This world is widely inhabited by creatures known as Pokemon." There was a slight pause, then, "We humans live alongside Pokemon as friends. At times we play together, and at other times we work together. Some people use their Pokemon to battle and develop closer bonds with them."

With a lull, his vision blurred for a moment and his ears felt water-logged once again. Strange images and alien words ran up and down in his eyesight (or were they in his mind?). A black haze was threatening to overwhelm his senses but before it claimed him, one last statement echoed in his mind, even though he was already unconscious.

"Are you ready? Your very own tale of grand adventure is about to unfold!"

* * *

 _14:26, North-west section of the Johto region, Route 42_

He was in that state of mind between waking and dreaming. Right as his brain began to process the sensations he received about his surroundings, his consciousness was dragged back down to murky forgetfulness once again. Over and over, he felt the pressure against his chest and cheek, the strangely familiar scent in the air, and a constant sound which his brain was too fogged up to put a label to yet. Time seemed to dilate; had it been an hour since he regained any form of consciousness or was it a mere minute? Regardless, he could feel that the sun, every firebenders' companion, was up. Next came the smell. It was fresh and clean, unlike the salty tingling of the sea that pervaded his nation. Then his mind seemed to finally drag itself out of that heavy haze and he could feel the dryness in the air, a distinct difference from the muggy, tropical humidity he was used to. Slowly, his eyelids finally had the strength to lift up and for a moment, he did nothing but try to figure out what he was looking at.

There was a soft breeze and the swishing of leaves. Blades of dead brown leaves tickled the right side of his face as he found himself lying on his front. Sparse trees surrounded him, their trunks thin and straight, which was covered by a cone of evergreen needles. Moving his limbs to push himself up, he felt dazed, as if he did not belong in his body, even though it obeyed him. He clutched his head and blinked his eye fervently, willing his mind to awaken further.

When he finally felt in his skin again, he looked up to search for his bearings. It was obvious that he was not in the Fire Nation. His best bet was that this was somewhere in the Earth Kingdom.

 _Wasn't he in the Fire Nation though?_

It was at this moment that he recalled the assault and the ensuing fight which ended with him falling (or was it burning?) Yet, strangely, his skin was unmarred save for a slight redness that told of a slight singeing. Similarly, he did not seem to possess any major injury that would result from a fall of that height.

However, his ponderings were quickly interrupted by an animalistic growl. Snapping into a basic stance, Zuko turned towards the source of the sound with an instinct any warrior would be envious of.

He did not need to search for long as soon, a patch of grass rustled and a creature emerged. The best description Zuko had for it was that it was a purple rabbit-mouse with stunted ears and a decidedly strange tail. Blinking blearily, both man and creature stared at each other in shocked silence, before the rabbit-mouse-thing gave a squeak and scampered back into the grass.

 _ **A Pokemon.**_

Bewildered by what he just saw and the thought that had subconsciously rose in his mind, Zuko treaded further away, heading off in the opposite direction in hopes of finding a road and that the creature he just saw was either a delusion or simply something unknown to him. He could not claim to be the foremost authority on what animals existed in the world, after all.

 _What would Uncle do in this situation?_

Zuko snorted almost immediately.

 _He'd probably see that pondering over the strange fauna would not teleport him back to his palace, and then proceed to search for tea._

Zuko trudged forward, deciding to search for some kind of human construction (and thus some sort of tea shop) to sort out his bearings.

* * *

Zuko was by no means an expert on earthen features, but he has travelled to enough locations to build a portfolio. So, finding out that the particular environment he was in was in no way familiar unsettled his nerves. This particular climate and forestry surrounded by mountainous slopes was wholly foreign, even the road he treaded on seemed too neatly made to be stretching into a forested area. Although, he has not walked every road in the world nor does he have a spotless memory, so this really was not any cause for alarm. Then again, Zuko found that he has developed a good instinct over the years, and they were now screaming at him that something was not quite right, apart from the fact that he had possibly travelled halfway around the world without any memory of it and erased injuries of course.

"Watch out below!"

With a start, Zuko turned towards the voice. His brain only processed a long shout of alarm and a tangle of red and blue limbs before he was knocked off his feet and dirt kissed his face.

"Oh dear, sorry! Sorry!" While he was still differentiating his left from his right, anxious hands grabbed his shoulders and pulled him upright. "Are you alright?"

Swallowing the irate comeback that was on the tip of his tongue, Zuko's face warred between an annoyed raise of his eyebrow and a befuddled drop of his jaw so he settled for something funny in between. The teenager, who had tumbled down the slanted side of the rock face like a rock in a landslide, stood awkwardly with a sheepish look on his face.

"I was chased by this bunch of mean looking Geodudes and wasn't looking carefully enough and I ended up falling over. Thank Arceus you were there to break my fall!" Bobbing on his heels, he stuck out his hand straight out in front of his chest, held loosely as if he was about to grip something. "My name's Leon!"

Zuko could not tell if he was more bothered by the stranger's bouncy attitude or by the fact that he rolled down a good distance but remained unscathed. The teenager's hand was still held awkwardly in the air.

"Er… Zuko."

"Nice to meet you Zuko!" Leon seemed antsy for some reason, finally letting his hand drop, nervously shaking it and scratching his palm as if he was pretending he had never raised it in the first place.

His face was turning a bit red and there was a pregnant pause where Zuko floundered for something to say, either to ask where he was or where the nearest town was, well basically just to ask for directions. Then, as if equally uncomfortable in the silence, Leon started babbling.

"Woah, what's with that get-up? Wait, are you heading over to Ecruteak for their bonfire festival?"

 _Ecruteak?_ Zuko had not heard of that place before.

"That's a real neat costume! What is it supposed to be though? Wait, let me guess, let me guess! Hmm… Definitely a fire type, Charmandar or Cyndaquil? The scar on your face is an awesome touch! How did you do it? It's really cool! It almost looks real! Actually, on second thought, your clothes look more like traditional clothing. I'll pit it as some kind of mix between the two. Anyway, I'm heading to Ecruteak too! Let's get there together!"

And in the span of that few seconds, Zuko had proceeded from having his clothes scrutinized to suddenly finding himself a travelling companion as Leon led him towards the aforementioned town.

"So where are you from? I'm from Slateport City!" Zuko must have given a funny look for the unfamiliar name because Leon immediately rattled on. "Yeah, I know. Kid from the city going to an old town like Ecruteak?" Here Leon made a sound like a snort. "Well, I'll have you know I'm a festival nut, and proud! Been to Ecruteak's Bonfire Night every year since I started as a Pokémon trainer."

This time Zuko had to gag and exclaimed, "Pokémon Trainer?"

Leon seemed taken aback by his outburst, blinking a few times before seemingly mistaking Zuko's dumbfounded expression for something else and beamed, "Yeap! I'm a true bonafide Pokémon trainer. I've already completed the gym challenge in Hoenn so right now I'm halfway through Johto. I was going to challenge Morty right after the festival, but I'm worried there might be a queue so I came over early to take the challenge before the festival itself."

Leon continued to natter on about strange words that Zuko could barely wrap his head around. However, if what he got from Leon was anything to go by, he was in a region called 'Johto' and even if he wrote that off as a local nickname, there were still a whole slew of places named that he has never heard of before. He barely stopped to breathe and his gait skipped as much as he changed topic, going off on one tangent promptly after another. He was like someone rolled Aang and Ty Lee into one person.

Just as his well-gardened paranoia began to eat away his self-containment of keeping from interrogating Leon, they came upon an opening ahead, and hidden behind the forest spilling in around the bend in the road, Zuko could see the edges of tented roofs as the ground was beginning to be inlaid with stones. Right smack at the side of the road was a rickety charred signboard with a group of strange symbols freshly painted on it. At first glance, Zuko was wont to believe the symbols were ancient air nomad symbols, but he has been to the olden temples before and the symbols while different from the standard, modern writing script, were still recognisably parent symbols from which the current script was derived. This, however, was entirely foreign. Angular curves around singular dots and floating horizontal lines crossed over a vertical straight through its middle reminded him more of geometric shapes rather than the dynamic elegant curves and tear-drop shaped spots of the characters he grew up with. This was a wholly alien writing system and logically speaking, maybe it was a long-lost, niched writing system he had never encountered before, but that was unlikely considering how much of the world he had seen during the war and the level of education he received as a child of the royal family. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a nasty suspicion began to form. There have been folk tales of people being spirited away to foreign lands not of the world.

Pointing to the sign, Leon glowed, "Welcome to Ecruteak City!" Obviously, it was not mere scratchings on an old piece of wood then.

That nagging was starting to convince him. Folk tales might not be as far from the truth as he suspected now.

* * *

 _15:17, North-west section of the Johto region, Ecruteak City_

Ecruteak was not an old town. It was true that the clay roofing were chipped, and the wood a little aged, but otherwise, the small city was on par with the _Fire Nation palace_. Sturdy wood were embellished and capped with metal bits which were much shinier than the iron he was familiar with. ( _ **Those are steel**_.) The floors were so neatly tiled with stone he wondered if Earth benders had put them in place. All in all, there was nothing to suggest this city was old expect for the odd moss and the strangely burnt tower standing in the distance.

But that was a minor point. The city was alive and bustling with preparations for the upcoming festival. Street-side stalls were already starting to sell all manner of mouth-watering goods. The waft of delicious smells he did not recognise blanketed the city centre like a mist, lingering even when they had well passed the stalls. What boggled Zuko though were the strange clothing some of them adorned. What manner of hats were perfectly wrapped around the top of heads with only a flat extrusion over the tops of the wearer's eyebrows? Were those bare, unclothed legs? How did they dare show so much skin and even when clothed, it fitted around the thighs so tightly they might as well have just painted their legs instead! But what was even more eye-catching than the (inappropriate) _eccentric_ clothing were the creatures that dotted the crowd. They seemed as if some entity had stitched several animals together, then maybe adding a narwhal-whale's horn to the forehead. He could see traces of an iguana-snake in that one but it stood on twos, had four arms, was blue as the sky and taller than the human requesting it to put it's load down behind a stall. His head was spinning and he was pretty sure he must been seeing spirits ( _ **Pokémon**_ ) because only Aang's description of the spirit world neared this level of insanity.

 _Yeah, I'm probably dead in some forgotten ditch in the spirit world, that's why._

Leon bounded and pointed towards a round domed structure and at this point, Zuko had run out of energy to even be surprised at the gleaming metal and enormous glass pieces.

"Well, here we are! Ecruteak Gym." Leon turned to flash Zuko a toothy grin, "what say you sit in on my Gym challenge? I could use some support."

"Am I allowed to do that?" From what Zuko had gathered, gym challenges involved what Leon had called Pokémon and involve some sort of roughhousing.

"Sure you are! Have you never been to a Gym before? You're a funny guy, Zuko."

So, for lack of better things to do, Zuko agreed, and besides, he really wanted to know what a Pokémon was. As soon as he nodded, Leon grabbed his arm and practically dragged him in through the glass doors (which somehow opened _on their own_ and Zuko wondered if there were such things as glass-benders). He promptly spoke to a young lady behind a long-spanning table top and more technicalities were thrown into the air. By now, Zuko was starting to feel like a rotting fish out of water. Since he couldn't understand the conversation taking place anyway, his eyes were drawn towards a bunch of posters along a wall. There was a particular poster that was particularly large and popped out of the wall, and as Zuko strode over from its side to view it properly, the image on the front became clear. Though to be technical, it was not so much an image but a moving one. And to top it all, the image ( _ **video?**_ ) was so realistic, Zuko rather thought they must have impressive puppet makers. It showed two young men tossing a ball into the air, then a burst of light blinded the poster ( _ **screen**_ ) and two of the foreign creatures he has seen all day appeared before each man. There were shouts of strange words, encouragement and what he assumed were names, before the two creatures charged towards each other. And then it was a _cock fight_. Were those creatures _bending_? But no element would control noxious looking black mist, nor that strange rainbow coloured burst of light. The shouts from each men were in time with the attacks from each creature ( _ **Pokémon**_ ) and they were clearly out to defeat each other. Either way, Zuko was now aware of one thing, somehow, this form of cockfighting a norm and that made him wonder if he had just dropped into another war.

"Hey Zuko let's head in!"

A hand fell on his shoulder and he was already grasping it to lead into a throw when he stopped himself, staring into Leon's bewildered face. He had to shake away dreary thoughts of ash and death before he plastered an assuring smile, "Yeah, sure."

* * *

There were now three things Zuko was aware of.

One, what he had seen on the moving poster ( _ **television**_ ) was a Pokémon battle. Which led to number two, a Gym Challenge was one where a trainer such as Leon battled a series of Gym trainers, and ultimately the Gym leader himself. And this meant three, Pokémon battles were some sort of sport. There were cock fights back at home, usually partaken by commoners and the more serious ones took place in the underworld of criminals and gamblers. Zuko knew some nobility enjoyed gambling in those as well but by and large, bending battles were much more popular in such circles. Here however, the Pokémon could bend (or display some ability similar to bending at least) and hence, cock fighting between such creatures naturally rose in place of the bending battles back home. The trainers apparently called out names of moves which each respective Pokémon then followed. While disgusted at first at seeing people use those creatures so freely to harm each other for none other than sport, a closer look at the battle showed that the fire, while it scorched, did not burn, and while the poison hung in the air, the affected did no more than have a slightly harder time breathing. They were clean fights, and Zuko supposed bending battles were way more brutal in comparison.

What he did not understand were the balls. It seemed to contain the Pokémon creatures but they were confusingly much smaller than the Pokémon which they contained. He eventually decided to ask Leon afterwards as the last leg of the battle came to a climax. Leon, Zuko found, was rather impressive, despite first appearances. Only three of his Pokémon had been called out and yet the leader, a well-built man in his thirties, was already finishing with his fourth Pokémon. The floating purple spirit eventually succumbed under a ball of dark, purple shadows from a dog-wolf-like Pokémon, exhausted and unable to do anything beyond lie on the ground until the Gym leader recalled it back into the ball-thing. There was a yelp of happiness from Leon and even the black and grey dog-wolf seemed elated, the expressions on both of them were similar to when Aang mastered a complex move he had struggled with and Zuko could not help but feel himself getting sucked into the congratulatory cheer.

Seeing Leon skip over, Zuko stood up from the wooden bench along the side-lines of the gigantic battle court, giving a genuine smile, "Congrats!"

Leon's smile grew wider and Zuko was reminded of Aang once more. "Heh, my fourth badge! You know what, it's pretty late now so what say you and I go enjoy the bonfire festival together?"

Aang must have somehow infected him with his naivety beyond the grave because Zuko found himself unable to decline.

* * *

 **A/N**

Re: Writing. Ancient Chinese writing is pretty recognisable to Chinese language users, I think? Even if you couldn't read it, the characters were merely derived and simplified over the years. Moreover, modern Chinese people are at some point exposed to how some simple characters in ancient script has developed over the years into the script today. As Zuko said, he is pretty knowledgeable about the world in general given his years looking for the avatar and the slew of tutors he had from young. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I remember seeing some sort of writing in the Pokemon games which look somewhat like how Zuko has described it but for the life of me I can't remember where. Shoot me a note if you do and if I got it wrong.

Re: Technology. Zuko was implanted with some know-how about the Pokemon world in that dreamscape scene at the start. It's mostly subconscious but it leads him to draw the right conclusions about some of the world's mechanisms and culture without sending him into culture shock. Forgive me, I couldn't of another way around the technology and information gap between the Pokemon world and the Avatar world.

Re: Cock fighting and bending battles. Think of the Earth Rumble. I'll imagine it's considered a fairly clean bending battle, if inappropriate for high society. Logically, dirtier fights should exist as well and Zuko must have ran into one or two either while starving in the Earth Kingdom or in some kind of clean-up effort. Toph's Earth rumble didn't exactly raise anyone's hackles so I'd imagine Zuko would be ambivalent about the idea of having bending fights among animals for sport considering the similarities with bending battles.

Paranoid Zuko is paranoid. This lazy author is lazy. Sorry for the year long wait. Honestly, I'm losing some drive for this fic even though I have a fair bit planned out. So no promises on the next chapter.


	3. Obon

**3\. OBON**

* * *

The festival, in spirit, reminded Zuko terribly of the Obon festivals back home. Beautiful hand-crafted lanterns would hang above every doorway, fireworks would be lit and cast into the sky, and the river shimmered from the lanterns floating along it. This night was no different, except for the much larger scale of splendour jammed into the small city (which would more accurately be described as a countryside town judging from its size but who was Zuko to judge). By now, most of the street stalls had fully set up for the night and hordes of people inched along the veins of empty space left. The night sky lit up in a way Zuko had seen only in the capital city during the New Year season. Leon expertly ghosted in between stacks of humans that Zuko was left hurrying after him, barely managing to not lose sight of him on multiple occasions. When they finally came upon a stall with an impressive line standing before it, Leon finally stalled, excitedly gushing.

"Have you ever tried the dorayaki here? Ecruteak's famous snack, it comes in three different flavours: Entei, Suicune and Raikou, named after the legend of the Belltower." Here, Leon put on a professional air about him, reciting as if he were a tour guide, "of course they don't actually serve any fishy stuff like Pokémon meat, its actually just custard, red bean paste and sea salt. Those are the traditional flavours but recently they've come up with additions like Lugia, which is cheese and whipped cream and the almighty Ho-Oh, a mix of every fruit you can think of!"

Practically dragging Zuko to join him in the queue, he carried on.

"So, oh enigmatic stranger, you never answered me! Where are you from?"

Zuko wanted to make a non-committal answer as he had done all afternoon but now, there was a difference between being cautious and not even trying to figure out his current predicament. His court might be in disarray at the moment for all he knew, so despite his worries of being in some unexplainable land, he sought to at least clear up his wonderings.

"About that, Leon. I actually have to admit something: I'm looking for a way back home. My self was forcefully taken from there with no memory of how I came here. I'm assuming this is the Earth Kingdom? So if you will be so kind as to enlighten me of my current position or even load me a messenger bird, I will ensure that you will be properly compensated."

Zuko was not sure if this, this _place_ , would be amiable towards the Fire Nation despite the end of the war so he made sure not to mention his identity. Leon stared at him, bug-eyed. A jolt of insecurity ran up Zuko's spine, which reminded him of that one time he touched the golden egg in the Sun Temple.

"What?" Then, "Dude! Are you roleplaying? What show is this from?" Leon's glinted with amusement. "I never thought you the type! Man, I'm really starting to take a liking to you!"

"I'm serious! I'm a person of high birth. I'll understand any reservations you might have helping a stranger like this but I assure you, I merely wish to get home and you have my word that my self would do the utmost to reward you accordingly."

"Dude, quit making me guess. I don't know this show."

Irritated, but fearing his ideas of being somehow spirited away to another land were actually true, Zuko tried a different approach.

"Does the term, 'Avatar' or 'Fire Nation' ring any bells?"

"Avatar? Like in 'Pandora'? Oh but if it's 'Fire Nation' then it should be 'The Tales of the Sun'. Which is it?"

Zuko never considered himself an imaginative person. Good ideas came from Sokka. Spiritual understandings were Aang's thing. But now, an impossible scenario in his mind was starting to look more reasonable. While he still had no clear idea where he was, he was almost sure that he was in a place that was not exactly physically reachable. What that meant, he had no idea. He was inclined to think this a place not of his world and the bugging thoughts of 'spirit world' were looking less dismissible and were now making camp in his mind. But spirits knew of the mortal world. So that did not make sense. He had to try bending; Aang mentioned before that he could not bend in the spiritual world. Not now with so many people around of course, in case his bending worked and he set fire to something ( _or someone_ , which was something he really wished he had not thought of). It was all making his head turn. And although the possibilities had been nibbling away at him ever since he saw the strange Pokémon in the forest, it was entirely different to receive confirmation that he had not in fact landed himself in some isolated island which had weird animals and strange dressing.

He must have spaced out because Leon was now shaking him bodily and apologising for 'not being as big a geek so stop acting like I've shat over your favourite show'

"I'm kind of out of cash at the moment."

There was a reason Sokka was the idea guy and Zuko fell mostly into the 'beat stuff up' group. While Zuko liked to think he was pretty decent at thinking on his feet, this attempt at digressing the topic was a whole new low for him and he nearly face-palmed at himself.

"Oh god! Were you robbed? Why didn't you report it the moment we came here? You should have said something!"

As Leon went on a tirade, Zuko 'umm'ed and 'err'ed, silently glad Leon seemed to be filling in the details on his own. Thank god Leon had the attention span of Aang. He really needed some time to think over his situation properly now.

"Well, considering how today has been a good day for me, I'll treat you for tonight. Make sure you report it to the police tomorrow though!"

Zuko rather felt that Leon was a good man, so he agreed and tried to give a disarming smile. Regardless of whether his smile was truly convincing, Leon sighed and seemed to buy his act, muttering about how Zuko should learn how to take care of himself a little better.

Maybe the universe had finally taken pity on him and given him a tiny scrape of good luck after having spirited him off to who-knew-where. Because _spirits_ , he needed whatever silver-sandwich clouds he could grab onto now.

* * *

Somehow, one thing led to another and Leon ended up asking for a double room at the Slyph's inn to accommodate Zuko. Not one to turn down goodwill when he received it, Zuko accepted the show of generosity and thanked him genuinely.

"Heh, its not a big deal actually. Pokémon Trainers get free board and breakfast so I didn't have to give a single cent."

At Zuko's puzzled look, Leon gave a good chuckle and continued, "You must have lived under a rock or something! Pokémon Trainers get paid allowances by Slyph Co depending on their ranking. Now, that ranking is based on a whole slew of indicators but essentially, it boils down to badges, ribbons, battle tower rankings and so on. Additionally, they are given free services and meals at the Pokémon centres and Slyph-owned accommodations throughout the country. Honestly, that's actually the main draw for most Pokémon trainers, but quite a number of them are in it for the thrill as well."

"So Pokémon training is actually a real job?"

Zuko blurted out the question without thinking, because he had been thinking that what Leon did was a hobby, like how Toph treated her Earth Rumble fights. Leon gave a scandalised pout. "Of course it's a real job! Not to mention, it's probably a job with perhaps the best perks, aside from the elite four and gym positions, I suppose."

Starving in the Earth Kingdom. Begging for food by the road. Stealing an ostrich-horse from a struggling family who had shown nothing but hospitality. Robbing a man for a few bites by threatening his friend at sword-point. Zuko had already committed many acts that he was ashamed of and he had no desire to add more crimes to his ledger. Having a job meant some sort of income, so he would not return to that downward spiral of poverty and crime. And Pokémon training was starting to appeal to him. One, he would get to travel, seeing as how Gym challenges were a central focus of a Trainer's career. That meant he would have the opportunities to figure out more about where he was. Two, free food and board. Not to mention, apparently if you challenged trainers along the road and won, you would earn a stipulated amount of cash. Even if he did not challenge any gyms, he could still get by.

"How do I become a Trainer?"

"Woah, what's this? Heh did I convince you of how cool Pokémon training is? I'm pretty awesome, eh? Well just register at any gym. But you need to go over in the morning, they're probably closed by now."

And with that, Leon decided that he shouldn't keep Zuko up much longer and bided him goodnight, promptly falling asleep with a light snore. Now that he had time to himself, he channelled a small amount of chi into his palm and was so surprised when a tiny flame burst into existence that he nearly fell out of his bed. That meant spirit world was now off the table, and that probably meant he could cross 'dead' off his list as well. It was only when the sky turned a cosy purple, signalling the coming of the morning sun when Zuko's thoughts of malignant spirits, worries for his nation and annoyance at once again not thinking things through finally quieted and Zuko drifted to an uneasy sleep.

Sunrise came and the warmth of Agni roused Zuko. He was prepared for the day by the time Leon woke up blearily and his friend gaped with incredulity when he mentioned his robes were his only possessions. Or maybe it was from some realisation that Zuko's scar was real, which further gave confirmation that he was not on his world. His scar was probably about as well known as the Avatar's apparent existence. From there it was a whirlwind of activity and Leon flustered to get ready and dragged him to the police station. Zuko fudged some story about his 'robbery encounter' and it ended up sounding like the attack combustion man made on Team Avatar back at the Western Air Temple. The police officer, a green haired middle-aged woman, started frowning and hissed "Hyper Beam?" under her breath before releasing him, informing him rather regretfully that it might take a while to capture the culprit in question. All in all, Zuko was just glad she bought his admittedly poorly put together story.

After that, Leon offered him some spare clothes he had in possession. Coming as more of a shock than it should have, apparently Zuko's clothes were too traditional and though it was fine for bonfire night, he was going to get stares elsewhere and else- _when_. Zuko had half a mind to refuse when thoughts of gathering unwanted attention rose and he figured it was better to be safe than sorry. Unwilling to further inconvenience Leon, he insisted on parting ways and Leon gave a hesitant farewell only after writing a series of symbols on a slip of paper, telling him to keep in contact once he got his phone back. There was guilt gnawing at Zuko before he resolved to figure out what a phone was so that he could keep Leon's promise.

Leon's farewell package consisted of a black sleeveless turtleneck shirt and dark maroon cargo pants. Changing quickly, Zuko removed his bun and the embellishments in it to tie it into a loose ponytail with a red cloth, similar to how some of the women had tied their hair. Seeing as how he did not draw any appalled glances (apart from his face), he supposed he was finally dressed appropriately.

And so, the sun was already halfway across the sky before Zuko finally made his way to register as a Pokémon Trainer.

* * *

Apparently the universe had decided he had received enough pity-luck. The receptionist had asked for something called an 'I.D.' and when Zuko mentioned his 'robbery incident', the clerk gave a flat look and asked him for his ID number. He had no idea what that was, let alone try to lie his way through. So when he mentioned he had forgotten and asked her to use his name instead, she grabbed a spare piece of paper and a strange brush which she used to scribble at the corner of the paper. Zuko gave a yelp of surprise because the brush ( ** _pen_** ) was apparently self-inking. Self-inking brushes ( ** _pens_** )!

 _Spirits_.

Trying his hardest to pretend he had not just acted out in surprise, he wrote his name and passed the paper back to her, and she understandably blew up and complained about not needing to pay attention to pranksters.

 _Right, different writing. Stupid!_

How had he forgotten? It was not as if the surrounding posters and signboard at the top of the entrance door were reminding him or anything.

Fleeing from the pissed woman, Zuko ran into a narrow street behind the Gym and paced about. He could not get a Trainer license without an ID, whatever that was. So did that mean he should register for an ID first? Then the question would be where could he get one, and even then, would he still need an ID number first? Or did that come after he got an ID? Or did they come together, considering the relevance in name? Would he be able to get by without an ID? For that matter, how many people here do have an ID?

He was scratching his head furiously, mussing up his hair as he gave a frustrated groan.

 _Spirits, who did he piss off in a previous life to have such bad luck?_

 _Right, asshole who burnt down a village. No wonder he was having bad luck, karma must be catching up to him._

"Hey you!"

It was a throaty voice, and with a glance upwards a sun-drudged and scrawny man came into view.

"Yeah, you. Why are you looking so down? I saw you earlier." With that he gave a hearty laugh, hand waving towards the Gym to indicate what he meant.

"You got some spunk, boy. What, did your friends put you up to a prank like that?"

"Er." Halfway between wishing to Earthbend a hole in the ground and puzzlement behind how that display earlier could actually be a convincing prank, Zuko understandably gave an incredibly _fluent_ reply.

"Wait, hang on, you mean you really lost your ID?"

There was a beat of bewilderment before the rough-skinned man gave another bout of amused laughter.

"Looks like I'm in business then."

 _Business?_

"Don't look at me that way! This is a completely legitimate business."

The man crossed his arms, leaning back on his heels in an indignant stance, as if he was annoyed Zuko suspected him of some fishy business. "We get kids who ran away from home but don' got no sense to remember their ID."

An ID must not be that important after all, then.

"You must have gotten into a bad fight if you lost your ID, eh? So here's the deal, I'll get you an ID, and in exchange, you pass this paper here to the lady, along with a thousand bucks. Got it?"

With that, the man pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, holding it up with one hand while another was reached out for a handshake. "Deal?"

Honestly, Zuko was starting to feel rather impertinent towards his luck for its apparent mood swings. Something was definitely up.

"Okay the truth is, we're dating. But her dad don' approve of it. He checks her phone and all and he's about to come by later. But I've got to get this here message to her quick so I'd appreciate you pass it to her for me." The man gave a look akin to a kicked puppy. "Besides, it takes weeks to get anything processed at Internal Administration, not to mention the traveling time to Goldenrod!"

Zuko squinted, melodramatic as it was though, a piece of paper probably could not harm him too seriously and besides, he really needed that ID. Considering how important it sounded, he probably couldn't afford to wait weeks when he could be using that time to get home, besides he didn't know where Goldenrod was. But then there was the concern of money of course.

"I don't have any money." His face reflexively blushed a little from embarrassment.

Blinking owlishly, the man looked too stunned for words. Zuko's blush threatened to deepen, when he suddenly barked with laughter, slapping his side.

"Of course, silly me. Why would you have money on you if your whole wallet got robbed!"

The man slung an arm over his shoulder, patting it as if in pity of his robbed wallet.

"Alright, tell you what kid, I'd settle for your first badge. Once you've won it, I'll come to collect it alright?"

Well, it wasn't as if he was planning to become a proper pokemon trainer so not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, he nodded, "Alright, deal"

Feeling like he had just signed up for some sort of clandestine deal, Zuko reluctantly shook the weasel-like man's hand. Spreading his mouth into a sharp grin, he pulled Zuko in through the doorway. Inside, a plethora of metal and strange equipment piled up the floor. The man sat in front of one such item and reach the side of it. There was a click and then it started to glow.

"Alright now, a deal's a deal. So what's your name?"

"Zuko"

"Last name?"

"Eh?"

"I'd need your full name, boy."

Last name? Perhaps, he was talking about the family title? But even if this were a different world, it was never wise to provide one's true name to random strangers, much less to so freely give out the information that he was the Fire Lord.

"Er. Lee?"

 _Idiot. Was Lee even a last name?_

The scrawny man gave him a funny look, before shrugging it off. "Sure thing then. Age?"

"18"

It was a long list of questions and aside from another raised eyebrow at his birthdate, the man held back from digging for information and Zuko was rather relieved once he was done.

"Alright. Now for a picture. Look here, smile! Got it."

There was a bright flash from another rectangular device the man had set up on a three-legged stand. Then, he was handed a metallic piece with a plethora of writing and an impressive drawing ( ** _photograph_** ) of his face stared back at him on the front.

"That's it boy. Here, a brand new spanking ID for 'Zuko Lee'! Now, just pass this paper to the woman at the desk. She'll know who it is so don't worry."

Thanking him, Zuko shifted back out and approached the Gym once more.

* * *

He returned to the clerk, nerves fraying as he realised the same clerk he pissed off was still fuming in her seat.

 _Apologise with respect. And maybe a little self-deprecation while he was at it._

"Right, about earlier," he stumbled over his opening words ( _stupid),_ "that was stupid and childish of me, I would like to formally extend my apologies and-"

All he got for a response was a flat look. Or incredulous, he couldn't really tell.

"Right, I shouldn't waste your time, you must be busy so, I really am interested in registering though, so if you could please?"

There was a pregnant pause, then, "Sure"

Zuko let out a breath he didn't realise he was holding. The fish-out-of-water feeling he'd been feeling ever since landing here must have really gotten to him more than he'd expected. He never did think through properly when he was under pressure, even if that had improved over the last year.

It turns out the registration process was slower than expected, and Zuko had to sit there for a good solid half hour before she was done.

"Right, here's your ID back. Before I give you your card, you need to receive your starter Pokémon. This way, please."

She signalled towards a hallway, silently striding down the hallway, without nary a glance to see if Zuko was following.

The silence was awfully awkward so Zuko thought of the earlier deal he'd made.

"Er, Miss?"

She barely gave a sign of acknowledgement sans a tilt of her head. Judging it to be a sign to carry on, Zuko got to the point, "I met your boyfriend outside and he wanted me to pass you this."

She immediately halted, glancing at him up and down before plucking the piece of paper out of his grasp.

"Thanks."

He did not think that 'prank' he pulled was _that_ offensive. Zuko settled for the exceedingly quiet walk, giving up on trying to break the awkwardness.

Soon, they came upon an impressive hall. There were all manners of tools hanging around, and an abundance of space. He figured it was a training hall of some sort, because some of the Pokémon Zuko recognized from Leon's gym battle were floating around, either darting through a series of hoops hanging from the ceiling or shooting the same dark shaped balls towards some shooting targets along the back wall.

"Morty." She greeted once they stopped behind a man feeding one of the round-shaped Pokémon.

"Oh, Merida! Who's this?"

"A new Trainer."

"Oh! Hello, nice to meet you! You seem familiar." Scratching his chin, Morty gave a thinking look, then, "Ah! You were with that Leon boy yesterday!"

The man had a bright smile that split his face, a type of mirth dancing in his eyes that reminded him of Aang. "Nice to meet you again! So I suspect you're here to get your starter Pokémon?"

He took the lack of response from Merida as an affirmation and continued, walking towards a door to the side as he continued speaking, "Well, you're in luck. You and the Pokémon both actually. A young trainer left this one after he had to quit for I quote, family reasons."

"He's a spitfire, lot's of pluck in him so I've been waiting for an older trainer like yourself to pick him up. I was about to consider sending him to Professor Elm but I had a gut feeling and you came along. So congratulations on the perfect timing!" Morty chuckled, the happy and chatty demeanour allowing Zuko to relax a little ever since his mistake with the clerk earlier.

"Of course, I wouldn't force you to take him but do give him a great deal of consideration."

With that, Morty pushed in a small groove at the side of the ball he held, looking expectant as the Pokémon emerged in a burst of light.

It gave a shake of its head, ruffling the red feathers along the crown of its head rather vigorously. It was rather like a hawk-chick, Zuko decided. Except it was a glorious orange. Beady black eyes looked dolefully around as it shifted on one pale peach leg to the other, the claws at the end flexing as it settled on the ground. Soft yellow down feathers lining both sides of its neck fluffed up as the Pokémon puffed up its chest. It chattered at Morty, as if demanding to know why it had been called out. Then, turning, its eyes settled on Zuko and it blinked inquisitively, cautiously approaching him as it tilted its head, jerking it in one angle to the other. Zuko unconsciously lowered himself and reached out to pet it as it neared, letting it peck at his hand curiously. Then, it rubbed the side of its head against his hand affectionately, cooing in a pleased sort of tone.

Zuko decided he liked it quite a bit. He never had any pets. The animals around the palace were just for show and generally had their own caretakers. Momo and Appa were technically Aang's pets and he never spent that much time with them anyway.

He could feel himself smiling as it now proceeded to scratch its own head with its claws instead. The red feathers on its head shaking and seemingly flickering from in-between the orange down.

"Obon."

* * *

 **A/N**

Re: Zuko's appeal to get help from Leon. Olden day royalty speak in strange ways. For example, those of high birth will refer to themselves in third person, and with incredibly formal, complex speech. I hope I captured that aspect in some way. Zuko slipped into this style of speech halfway through to try and convince Leon. It's also why Leon assumed Zuko was roleplaying because no one in modern times speak that way except in historical dramas.

Re: Slyph Co. Pokémon training should have some sort of perks to it. Otherwise, why would so many people be into Pokémon battling? Not many will want to spend their lifetime training animals just for battles, I'm sure. One or two Pokémon with certain innate abilities to help around the house should be enough. Slyph Co has the monopoly on all Pokémon battling related sales. So how is Slyph Co going to earn from all those Pokémon battling technology they produce? Sponsor to generate their own demand pool, of course.

Re: Shady man in the alleyway. He's shady.

Re: Obon. Which came first? The egg or the hawk-chicken? How do you like Zuko's first Pokémon? If Zuko was a Pokémon, he'll be a Blaziken, I think. A fire and fighting type, with the signature move blaze kick. Tell me that isn't a poultry form of a firebender. I'm thinking of shortening the name to 'Bon' over time, but that just makes it sound like a shortened form of 'bonfire'. I don't know, tell me your thoughts?

I want to hug Leon so bad. I hope Zuko meets him again soon.

Sorry for the update speed! I know this is incredibly slow as compared to most other authors, and I have no excuses except the standard - studies and other commitments. But I've read your comments and they really help to keep me invested in this - the problem mostly lies with the actual writing ( _I'm extremely rusty, and lazy_ ). No promises on when the next chapter would be out though, but at this rate, I'll expect it'll take another year ( _oops_ ).


End file.
